Court rules against Amari Resources

plans that the firm would start mining platinum this year.
Through its wholly owned Amaplats subsidiary, the company has an equal stake with the Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation in a joint venture firm called Zimari Platinum.
Prior to the judgment, Government had granted Amari permission to explore for platinum in the Ngezi-Mhondoro (Mashonaland West) area.
But the company prolonged the exercise beyond the stipulated duration.
After completing exploration, spanning four years, Amari in February announced it was now ready to start operations and would apply for a mining licence.
This prompted Government to file a lawsuit against Amaeri, accusing it of unlawfully undertaking exploration.
Mines and Mining Development Deputy Minister Gift Chimanikire said the court ruling effectively cancelled the Amari platinum project.
“The ZMDC chairman advised me that Amari had lost the case in which it continued with exploration outside the law,” he said.
“Amari proceeded with exploration despite the fact that the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), which gave it permission to do so, had expired.”
Following the court ruling, Mr Chimanikire said, ZMDC would now take over the project and start mining operations without Amari.
ZMDC had the financial and technical capacity to start mining the white metal independently, he said.
“Now that ZMDC has won the case, it will have to go it alone. ZMDC has the capacity to start mining.”
He said the State-owned miner was currently running five mines across the country.
But he would not reveal the cost of setting up operations or when ZMDC would start mining.
Amari Resources had reportedly committed an estimated US$200 million in the platinum project.
Efforts to get a comment from Amari on whether the miner would appeal against the ruling were fruitless. – New Ziana.